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injury to few passengers. When the committee went through the design and
specifications of Air Brake System, it was found that the Air Brake system
could hold air pressure for 15 hours with the allowable system leak. The
detailed report of what happened at the above-mentioned accident is still
awaited.
4.9.2 However, from the RDSO Air Brake laboratory test results, the Committee
found the Air pressure leaking completely in short a time as 30 minutes in
some of the wagons. Thus, the Air Brake system specification of allowable
leak rate is not even achievable in RDSO lab. This makes the committee
wonder as to how Air Brake system shall hold for 5 hours on a goods train!
4.9.3 The manufacturers of critical valves, pipe joints and hose assembly are not
meeting the overall leak rate stipulation for the train formations. This non-
compliance is a safety hazard requiring thorough investigation, concerning the
specification of Air Brake System Leak rate and its enforcement in open line.
Accordingly, the staff responsible for Air Brake Power evaluation and
assurance must also ensure System Leak Rate for a stationary train formation
is within stipulated limits.
4.9.4 The Committee recommends that every train should be checked for
formation Leak rate during maintenance in addition to Brake Power
Certification.
4.10 Other Items
4.10.1 Weigh-bridges should be installed at all major loading depots and at
other places in a way that every loaded wagon is weighed within 50 to
100 kilometers after loading to ensure that the gross load is within
prescribed limit and the rolling stock and the track is not subjected to
excessive loads / stresses. A uniform operating protocol to deal with over
loaded wagon for its detachment should be prescribed by Railway Board for
the sake of uniformity.
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4.10.2 In one of the interactions, the Committee was informed that the wagons with
track friendly bogies will give highly enhanced life of track due to reduced
wear. It is understood that wagons with track friendly bogie are being
developed on Indian Railways which should be expedited on top
priority.
4.10.3 Some study and trial is being done for introducing distributed power in
freight operations to reduce coupler forces and rail wear . Such initiatives
are welcome to work heavier loads in overall interest of the Railways and
should therefore be expedited.
******
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Chapter V
Fixed Structures (Track & Bridges)
5.1 IntroductionIndian Railways (IR) have a total track length of 11,3611 Kilometers. Of this,
88% track is on concrete sleepers and 78% are Continuously Welded Rail
(CWR) track. Both 52 Kilogram per meter and 60 kilogram per meter rails
sections are used in Indian Railways. Based on the past 5 year accident data
it is seen that derailment of trains constitutes more than half of total accidents
on IR. 29% of derailments are caused due to track defects largely due to rail
and weld failures.
5.2 Rail manufacture
5.2.1 After careful investigation of Rail materials used by IR, the Committee finds
that the choice of rail steel is primarily based on tensile strength. But as per
UIC norms, the choice of rail material selection should not only be based on
basic parameter of tensile strength but also on wear properties in curved
tracks and Rolling Contact Fatigue (RCF). Thus when the radius of curvature
is beyond 1000 meters, standard rail steel without heat treatment may be
adequate for the required GMT with negligible wear rate. However, RCF
based rail failures require serious attention in terms of GMT, axle loads, rolling
stock induced impact loads, and frequent accelerating and de-accelerating of
rolling stock. IR have a mixed traffic in almost all the routes and hence the
choice of rail material must conform to not only tensile strength alone but also
be able to cope up with wear and RCF. In addition, corrosion resistance mayhave to be considered, if warranted in certain sections.
5.2.2 During detailed discussion at RDSO, it was found that a compendium of rail
failures has been published by the Metallurgical and Chemical Directorate.
RDSO has carried out excellent metallurgical and chemical analysis of the
failure of rail in IR which are basically encountered in various accidents.
RDSO, M&C Directorate have not taken into account all other rail and weldfailures encountered in the open line due to non-reporting and other reasons.
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Thus the compendium is limited only to accident related rail failures. After
going through all the relevant documents and live samples of fractured rails
furnished by M&C Directorate, the committee has come to conclusion that all
types of metallurgical, manufacturing and welding defects reported in text
books and literature are happening in IR (Fig. 33 to 38). No attempt has been
made to trace back the root cause of failures in terms of steel melting, steel
billeting and rolling defects and cold rolling while straightening, field abuse,
improper handling and last but not the least over stressing the rail. In the
absence of systematic failure analysis, RDSO is unable to find scientific and
technological solutions for preventing rail failure.
Fig. 33 Fig.34 Fig. 35
Fig.36 Fig. 37 Fig.38
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5.2.3 RDSO has initiated Nickel, Chromium, and Copper (NCC) alloy steel rails for
Indian Railways. A sample quantity of 10,000 tonnes is under evaluation in 5
zones. The evaluation is expected to be concluded by June 2015 but IR
cannot wait till 2015 for the results. There are many ways of accelerated life
testing in laboratories and simulated field conditions. There is no focused
material research and specific recommendations by RDSO, for IRs long term
rail manufacture and supply for the mixed traffic.
5.2.4 Rail corrosion is to be specifically addressed in terms of toilet droppings. The
toilet droppings are one among the primary cause for the rail corrosion and
resulting in Rail failure. Significant improvement in rail corrosion can be
achieved if Mild Steel liners used in non track circuited areas are substituted
with liners made of appropriate grade of steel with required strength and
corrosion resistance and Elastic Rail Clips (ERC) are cadmium plated and
greased. With a ban on toilet droppings forthwith to prevent corrosion of rail
and its fittings, need for corrosion resistant rail steel is not considered
essential.
5.2.5 Following action should be taken in this regard :
1. It is strongly recommended to establish the root cause of rail
fracture/failure by bringing in all concerned expertise from steel
melting to open line end user based on systematic assessment to
arrive at specific recommendations. A national level expert
committee should be constituted to establish the root cause of rail
failures and identify the metallurgical and chemical solutionsincluding enhanced quality assurance and control protocols from
steel melting to laying of rail on the track on a war footing within
the next three months. This expert team may also study proposed
rail manufacturing process, its quality assurance conforming to
international UIC standards.
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2. The Committee also recommends a Senior Administrative Grade
officer of high integrity and strong background in Material Science
& Chemistry should be posted full time to monitor and control Rail
production process at Bhilai Steel Plant.
3. The Committee was informed that with increase in axle load even
60 kg/m rails are fully stressed with no margin left. Under these
circumstances it is not prudent to use 52 kg/m rails in Indian
Railways. The Committee therefore recommends the production
of 52 kg rail should be stopped and no further 52 kg PSC sleepers
are produced. The Committee also recommends use of only 60
kg/m head hardened rails on curves sharper than 400 meter
radius of curvature.
4. The present procedure of manual inspection by trolley by PWI and
rail testing manually ultrasonic equipment are out dated. While
this manual method is time consuming, labour intensive intervene
leading to many loss of railway staff life, the Committee
commends the use of modern technologically driven vehicle
borne ultrasonic testing machine for faster and reliable detection
rail and weld flaws.
5. To increase the life of rails and wheels of rolling stock the
Committee recommends Rail grinding at required intervals to be
mandatory.
Necessary funds to an extent of Rs. 1000 crores for Vehicle Borne
Ultrasonic Testing Machine and Rs. 5000 crores for Track Maintenance
Machines including Rail Grinding Machine are proposed.
5.2.6 An impression was given to the Committee that rail and weld fractures have
increased with the increase in loading allowance of wagons. It was further
presented that fractures were more after funds for track replacement underSpecial Railway Safety Fund (SRSF) were exhausted (Fig.39).
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& F ( )
F ( .)
F ( .)
E ( C .) F
Fig.39
While this aspect should be analysed more systematically, the measures to
improve quality of rails and welds and maintenance practices need to to be
pursued on priority.
5.3 Rail Welding
Rail weld failures are also encountered in a large scale in IR which is mostly
using Alumino Thermit Welding (ATW). The Committee notes that IR have
not adopted in all respect the European/UIC norms for AT welding, European
Standard ENI 14730-1 adopted on August 2006. AT welding is still extensively
used in high speed European railways. It appears IR had adopted AT Welding
process which existed few decades before and continue to use the old
procedure without any current update conforming to UIC/European
specification. The AT welding process and standardization conforming to ENI
14730-1 are essential along with quality control of raw materials used.
Evaluations of weld efficiency based on impact and fatigue loads are not
performed. The Committee recommends a systematic AT welding
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improvement programme conforming to the European standards,
procurement of latest and proven raw materials and quality welding
procedures must be introduced in IR to eliminate AT welding failure.
Flash But welding is being carried out by IR in Zonal FBW Plants for
Long/Continuous Welded Rails (LWR/CWR). Impact and fatigue load testing
are not carried out on any statistical basis for establishment of the life of FBW
on a periodical basis. The quality control procedure for FBW carried out at the
Zonal plants and in the open lines by mobile units are to be established and
followed rigorously. Rail Welding improvement programme also be
referred to the above mentioned National Expert Committee.
5.4 Track Maintenance
During our discussions with all concerned in Indian Railways, need for
corridor maintenance block was strongly felt for a minimum of few hours every
day. This is a very valuable and essential input towards accident prevention.
Today, IR operates most of the corridors beyond 100% utilization everyday
and hence little maintenance time is provided. This brings out very clearly
that there is no policy guidelines laid down by IR in terms of
maintenance protocol or if it exists then IR clearly violating the
prescribed norms eventually leading to unsafe working.
Preventive maintenance norms, in addition to emergency and breakdown
maintenance also are to be taken into account. Systematic co-ordination of
maintenance activities of fixed infrastructure in terms of track, over head
electrical equipment and signaling systems are essential for periodic
maintenance within corridor block. Corridor planning should be such that
adequate time in a day is reserved for planned periodic maintenance. It is a
simple management problem to plan and execute preventive maintenance.
There should be no compromise on this aspect. In the absence of systematic
preventive maintenance plans, inadequate machines and manpower, the
safety is the primary victim and no administration can tolerate this. During the
interaction the Committee was informed that it was very difficult to carry out
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planned and systematic maintenance on trunk routes as little time was
available due to excess traffic. Under such a scenario, maintenance in a
hurry shall not yield quality compromising safety and may also lead to loss of
life of Railway men on duty as mentioned in chapter 2 of the report due to
hurried action. IR need to fix this at the earliest by taking measures to improve
line capacity.
5.5 Bridges
5.5.1 Safety of the train travel on the bridges is of paramount importance because
the casualty or loss of human lives may be large in the event of an accident
on the bridge. IR have classified around 3000 bridges as 100 years age and
above and also identified 32 distressed bridges. During our discussion with
RDSO, it was informed that IR periodically assess and take appropriate
safeguards in terms of limiting axle loads and speed on distressed bridges.
Such distressed bridges are inspected visually by lower level engineers who
are trained little and may be freshly recruited. No photographic evidence is
taken, instead they keep their report in the bridge registers. Instead,
photographs should be taken using modern hand held electronic
cameras and should be posted on MIS/ sent through Internet to all
concerned senior engineers having vast experience to visualize the
impending bridge failure.
5.5.2 Vulnerable bridges should also be fitted with water level gauges and
turbine flow meters to measure flow which should be interlocked in a
way to warn the driver of the approaching train.
5.5.3 The Accident occurred on Southern Railway near Kadalundi is a classical
example in which one Assistant Engineer examined the bridge and found
visually no indication of damage on this bridge whose cast iron pile were more
than 140 years old but not declared by IR as one of the distressed bridge. The
assistant engineer apparently used divers to go under turbid water level for
visual inspection and found no specific observation. However, within a few
days, the bridge collapsed and a serious accident took place with loss of life.
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Based on inquiry, the Assistant Engineer, Divisional Engineer and Chief
Engineer of Southern Railway were held blameworthy for this accident.
Scientific inspection of the underwater foundation is needed even in turbid
conditions. In Indian context waterways are full of sewage drainage /turbid
and no human will be able to go inside and check the condition of the
foundation or the footing of the bridge. Solution lies not in punishing people
but evolving scientific and innovative means to assess the condition of
submerged footing of such bridges. It is strongly recommended to
instrument all the bridges in terms of deflections/displacements, water
level and flow velocity on a continuous basis and data should be
communicated to the office of the concerned Chief Bridge Engineer for
monitoring. Advanced scientific measurement and inspection for the
condition assessment of the under-side of the bridges using mobile and
articulating platform are essential.
5.6 Level Crossings
5.6.1 Of the total 32,735 level crossings on Indian Railways, a large number of
14,896 are unmanned. Such unmanned level crossings have persistently
stayed as death traps though due to the negligence of road users with
accidents at unmanned level crossings remaining at unacceptable high level
both with regard to number of accidents and severity of causalities.
5.6.2 During deliberations with different functionaries, the Committee was made to
understand the nuances of having Level Crossings (LC), both manned (with
or without signals), and unmanned on railway network. Casualties in Level
crossings accidents contribute to 65% deaths and 38% injuries out of the total
tally of casualties due to consequential train accidents of all types. Moreover,
LC gates are resource intensive for their operation and maintenance. It was
brought to the notice of the Committee that infrastructure such as lifting
barrier, gate lodge, etc. was ready at many of the unmanned level crossings
but CRS was not agreeing to permit operation either due to delay in sanction
of posts of gatemen or no incumbents being available to man. Accidents at
such level crossing gates have also been reported to have happened in
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5.6.5 The Committee recommends as under:
1. Eliminating all Level Crossings whether manned (with or without
signals) or unmanned in next 5 years. This will not only eliminate the
accidents at level crossings which account for 65% of total deaths due
to train accidents but will also improve the line capacity as trains get
held up at busy LC gates. It will also save operation and maintenance
costs incurred at gates.
Funds to the tune of Rs. 50,000 Crore have been proposed for this
purpose.
Apart from saving lives, it is estimated that monetary saving on
account of elimination of all level crossings will be to the tune of
about 7000 crores per annum and thus the entire investment will
be recovered in about 7 to 8 years time.
2. This is gigantic task for which the Committee recommends
dedicated SPVs in each of the zonal railway fully empowered and
mandated to complete the project in a time frame of 5 years.
3. No LC should be newly introduced under any circumstances on
the existing system as well as during gauge conversion, doubling
and construction of new railway lines.
4. Level Crossings having little road traffic should be closed. Mergerof nearby LCs by constructing connecting roads at railways cost
even on non-railway land should be taken up. The Committee was
informed of the good work being done by IR which should be speeded
up.
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5. Construction of limited height sub-ways, Road under Bridge
(RUB), Road over Bridge (ROB) should be taken up in mission
mode and traffic blocks should be generously granted for the
construction, so that all the LCs are eliminated in the next 5 years
time.
6. In keeping with this spirit, no LC gate should henceforth be
manned or interlocked. A large number of unmanned level crossings
have been sanctioned for manning and many manned have been
sanctioned for interlocking. However, LCs where infrastructure has
been constructed should be manned only on temporary basis till these
are closed.
7. The present policy of sharing the cost of RUB or ROB with the
State Governments should be dispensed with and the full
responsibility and entire cost of construction should be taken
over by the Railways. For this purpose, the present Railway
policy needs to be changed and Section 19 of the Railways Act
needs to be amended. Further, to augment the safety fund a large
share of diesel cess should come to the Railways for which
Government of India should be approached.
8. To expedite the construction of limited height sub-ways, RUBs
and ROBs the CRSs role should be taken away and relevant plans
and documents should be approved and signed at the level of the
concerned Principal Head of the Departments (PHODs) instead ofsending them to the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) for
sanction unless there is some change in the track/yard layout.
9. Regular meetings and coordination between Railway and civil
administration at the highest to the local levels should be held to
expedite the execution as above.
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5.7 Strengthening of Track
Bad and yielding formations are a cause for track geometry being vitiated
creating a safety risk as well as enormously adding to the permanent way
maintenance cost. There is a dedicated Directorate in RDSO to assist zonalRailways to improve such formations but much headway has not been made.
The Committee recommends that the Directorate in RDSO is
strengthened, stretches of weak formation identified and an action plan
formulated to treat such weak formations in a scientific manner with a
view to eliminate such weak spots permanently including improvement
to drainage positively within the next 5 years. The Committee has
assessed a requirement of Rs. 2,000 crore for this purpose. Traffic
blocks for carrying out formation treatment works should be given on
high priority.
*****
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Chapter VI
Human Resource Development
With Emphasis on Education and Training
6.1 Introduction
6.1.1 All successful organizations are learning organizations. A learning
organization ensures that its employees are growing in terms of their skills,
knowledge and perception. One way to achieve this goal is by developing an
infrastructure and making provisions for all officers and staff members to
continue to develop a habit of life-long learning. Indian Railways has many
establishments of training. The organization also deputes its staff members
for training and also commissions academic institutions to conduct some
refresher courses for its staff and officers.
6.1.2 However, it has been found that opportunities of enhancing or improving
qualifications are not adequate for the officers. Most of the officers are
selected for service after their graduation. Their career progression is based
on their field experience. They are provided opportunities of study leave for
acquiring higher degrees. However, there is no scheme of Indian Railways by
which officers are deputed to national or international academic institutions of
higher learning. Indian organizations like DRDO, defense forces, department
of atomic energy have schemes under which officers are deputed for
acquiring Masters degrees at IITs and IISc. A scheme similar to this is
desirable for officers of Indian Railways. In fact, for fostering the spirit of
research and technology development, it is desirable to sponsor some officers
under a scheme for doctoral programs as well.
6.1.3 Young men and women look for bright career after their graduation. Their
choices are based on their exposure to different areas during their college
years. Their choices are also based on the issues like assured career option,
reasonable security of job, professional challenges and social respectability of
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profession. Indian Railways is not as much on their radar for lack of exposure.
It is, therefore, recommended that a large number of projects of
importance to Railways are regularly awarded to some select
engineering academic institutions in which students can participate. It is
also recommended that courses, minor stream and major
specializations in the area of railway engineering be introduced in the
Indian engineering academic programs. The issues of safety should be
an integral part of such academic programs.
6.1.4 Continuing education of railway staff is very crucial for increasing the
awareness of new technology and safety considerations. Modern techniques
of Information and Communication Technology can be used for training a
large size cadre of railway staff members. These courses can be developed
specifically tailored for Indian Railway requirements. The technology of
simulation can be used very effectively for such training. The certification of
competence can be done by the existing training establishment of Indian
Railways.
6.1.5 In summary, the Committee recommends the following.
Developing Indian Railways as a learning organization with special
emphasis on safety Launching a scheme of higher education for officers of Indian Railways
using the examples of DAE and DRDO Establishment of some Railway Laboratories/projects in Indian
engineering institutions Introducing academic programs in terms of electives, minor and major
specializations in railway engineering. Development of continuing education programs for staff members of
Indian Railways using ICT and simulation tools Introducing summer training scheme for students of engineering
colleges to provide them experience of working in the railway network
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6.2 Existing Training Institutes on IR
6.2.1 Indian Railways have 7 Central Training Institutes (CTIs), 9 Zonal Railway
Training Institutes (ZRTIs) and 9 Supervisors Training Centres (STCs). While
the officers are trained at CTIs, supervisors and staff were trained at ZRTIsand STSs. In addition to these training institutes, there are numerous other
training institutions for different departments such as signaling, engineering,
mechanical, electrical, etc. for training of supervisors and staff of respective
departments.
6.2.2 The Committee interacted with Heads of all the CTIs and Heads of select
ZRTIs and STSs etc. It is the assessment of the Committee that training of
officers, supervisors and staff requires all round systemic improvements.
There is lack of adequate capacity of training infrastructure, quality of trainers
is often suspect and Heads of training institutes lack empowerment which
have implications on the quality of training being imparted.
6.2.3 The Committee recommends the following to give a fillip to the training
of railway officials:-
1. All sanctioned capacity enhancement works of CTIs, ZRTIs and
STSs should be fully funded and executed within next two years.
Execution of these works should be in close coordination with the Head
of the training institute concerned.
2. Poor quality of trainers contribute to poor quality of training. It is
understood that posting as trainers even in CTIs is done without
consideration to the candidates assessment by the head of the
institute concerned and that such postings are often made for
accommodating the incumbents personal requirements without
consideration of his abilities as a trainer. Although rules have been laid
down by the Board for selection of trainers for training of non-gazetted
staff through a committee, the Board itself does not follow the same
process while posting trainers in CTIs. It is recommended that
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posting as a trainer, even in CTIs should be based on the
recommendation of a committee of which the Head of the institute
concerned must be a member. Tenures of deserving officers may
be extended on the recommendation of the Head of the CTI even if
it involves transfer of elements of posts if such a trainer is due
promotion so that he/ she can be promoted in the training institute
itself.
3. Heads of CTIs should be given full powers to invite academicians,
industry leaders, technocrats, etc. as visiting faculty within the
allocated budget grant. In case of Railway Staff College, where
Management training is imparted to officers of all railway
disciplines, arrangements should be made to have one or two
professional academicians on loan from management institutes of
repute for a few years fixed tenure.
4. Financial powers vested with most training institutions are limited. No
funds are allocated either under Revenue or under Works separately
for training institutes. Even in case of CTIs who have separate revenue
budget, there is complete dependence on adjoining zonal railway for
sanction and execution of petty works that are important for
maintaining the ambience of the institute and its facilities. It is
recommended that funds for CTIs, ZRTIs and STSs are allocated
separately both under Works as well as Revenue. Incurrence of
expenditure under these fund-allocations should be fully under
the control of Heads of the institute. Considering the importanceand size of CTIs, it is recommended that they should have their
own maintenance infrastructure for both engineering and
electrical. This infrastructure together with empowerment of
Heads of CTIs to sanction works and allot funds for works of
minor nature within the allocated Budget is absolutely necessary
for enhancing training effectiveness.
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5. Though the training in respective descriptions is imparted to the
officers, supervisors and staff, there is hardly any training on the safety
engineering /environment. It was reported that though Railway Staff
College, Vadodara and IRITM, Lucknow are running some courses on
safety management, the attendance was poor. For building a safety
culture it is necessary that all officers are periodically imparted training
in safety engineering.
6. Improving the training content in the field of safety is also important.
Like any other training, the training in safety management requires
significant amount of study, analysis, preparation of cases etc. This
activity in CTIs seems to be lacking. Necessary inputs required by the
trainers of CTIs should be provided to enable them to engage in
meaningful development of training contents. It may be a good idea to
provide training/ research assistants to trainers to develop this area in
a big way. It is recommended that training on safety environment
on Indian Railways should be placed on a sound footing and the
training material as well as trainers should be developed
appropriately for this purpose.
7. Terms of Principals of ZRTIs and STSs should be fixed for at least
3 years.
8. It was reported that newly recruited staff including erstwhile Group D
under different departments are not imparted any appreciation training
before their entry into the railway environment. It was also brought toour notice that though different departments are having some
arrangements for training of their staff in their respective disciplines at
the divisional level, there is no centre for them to be trained on the
overall safety environment present on the Indian Railways. Lack of this
is causing poor appreciation of the overall safety environment on Indian
Railways in lower level functionaries. It is recommended that one
training institute at the divisional level is nominated and upgradedfor such training under safety organization. This institute should
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have animation films; general equipment, tools and gadgets used
on Indian Railways, etc.
9. Teaching allowance of trainers of ZRTIs and STSs should be
increased from 15% to 30% to bring it at par with trainers in CTIs.
6.3 During our interaction with various railway functionaries, it was brought out
that the existing technical and professional qualification of newly recruited
staff were inadequate to operate and maintain the existing assets. It was also
brought to the notice of the Committee that the educational and technical
qualification of staff recruited through Departmental system is lower than
those recruited directly from the market. With the advent of introduction of
new technology on IR, there is a need to have elevation in minimum technical
and professional qualification of supervisors and staff operating and
maintaining railway infrastructure. Qualification for safety category posts
should be the same for direct recruits and departmental staff. The Committee
recommends that the departmental staff should be encouraged and
extended resources to upgrade their professional qualifications and
skills to be fit for promotion to the higher level than bringing down their
proficiency in standards as is the present practice. All the newly
recruited Assistant Loco Pilots should be Diploma holders instead of
present Matriculate/ ITI holders. All the Maintenance Technicians in all
Technical Departments should at least be ITI holders and supervisors
should be at-least Diploma holders, preferably, Engineering Graduates.
6.4 There are about 19 variants of diesel and electric locomotives on IndianRailways. It was brought to the notice of the Committee that location of throttle
and brakes is different on electric and diesel locomotives. Loco Pilots are
expected to master driving skills of all these variants which is insurmountable
and unsafe from the safety point of view. During one of our interactions with a
very senior railway officer, it was brought out that some accident took place
because of late reaction by the Loco Pilots attributed to different locations on
brakes and throttle. However, the committee could not get the report. TheCommittee is convinced and therefore recommends that the cadre of
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electric and diesel running staff should be separated in the present
operating environment having large number of loco variants of both
types. Commissioners of Railway Safety (CRS) have also recommended
separate cadres for electric and diesel tractions. This may perhaps result in
some additional requirement which may get counter-balanced by savings due
to less time required for their training for dual traction. Henceforth Indian
Railways should ensure that the basic loco controls in the cab are similarly
configured ergonomically.
6.5 Issue of disposal of running staff who failed repeatedly during refresher
courses was also brought to the notice of the Committee. In the absence of
no clear-cut implementable guidelines, running staff with inferior knowledgeare put on line compromising on safety. It is recommended that such
running staff who fail in any of the mandatory refresher course should
be given only one extra chance to repeat the course followed with their
test taken at the concerned Branch Officer level. In case the running
staff fails again, he should be debarred from running duty and posted on
other non-safety related assignments or given voluntary retirement
following the prescribed rules and process.
6.6 Certain issues related to the management of running staff were brought to the
notice of the Committee. It was reported that running staff are called for
driving the train at midnight after completion of their leave period on the
previous day which puts undue pressure on them if their personal
engagement lasted till late in the evening. It is suggested that the running
staff are called at 08:00 hours on the subsequent date after availing
leave till the previous date.
6.7 Indian Railways already have Loco Simulators both for electric and diesel
locomotives. It was informed that more Loco simulators are under
procurement. These full-scale simulators are located in the training schools
and can be used by the running staff during their assignment for such training.
It is recommended that some portable cheaper version of loco
simulators is procured and located in drivers running rooms where
running staff can brush up their driving skills at their convenience.
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6.8 Simulators for Station operating staff for training on operation of all types of
signaling panels sanctioned many years back have not yet seen the light of
the day and Station Masters are largely trained on-job which is not correct.
The Committee recommends such training panels should be introduced
at the earliest in Zonal Railway Training Institutes (ZRTIs).
6.9 Trains run on Indian Railways as per the provisions of several rule books,
manuals, instructions, etc. Operating staff are expected to know provisions
contained in all such books and to impeccably follow them, failing which they
are punished in case of failures. This appears to be impractical. Instead, the
Committee recommends that separate hand-books are prepared for the
operating staff, such as loco pilots, station masters, etc. which should
contain all the necessary instructions to be followed by them while
performing their duty. There should be no need for them to refer to several
voluminous books which is impossible.
6.10 Interaction with the staff Federations led us to feel that the staff working at the
cutting edge were not well looked after. Their dues were not given to them in
time and the machinery in the offices does all kinds of things to harass them.
The Committee recommends that each Division should have Grievance
Redressal Machinery which should deal with staff grievances in time-
bound manner. DRM should personally oversee the working of the
system.
6.11 Unwillingness of staff to work as Gateman at engineering Level Crossinggates was brought to the notice of the Committee. It is also reported that the
grade of the Gateman who performs more responsible duties than the
Trackman is the same. While the issues related to LC gates have been
deliberated in chapter 5, it is recommended that a special allowance
equivalent to 25% of the salary and grade pay is given to the staff who
work as regular Gatemen as a special incentive during the intervening
period till LC gates are closed.******
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Chapter VII
Research Eco-system on Indian Railways
7.1 Introduction
Safety is the most important consideration of any transportation network. In
such a network, the operational commitments are attended on a priority basis.
However, the considerations of research, technology development and
absorption of new technology get less attention even though these aspects
ultimately affect the efficiency and safety of the network. Besides the
operational commitments, the network also has to have a large establishment
for development and maintenance of design standards, testing of equipment,
development of inspection procedures etc.
7.2 Present Research Eco-system on IR
7.2.1 RDSO, in its present form, is largely discharging its role as a support
organization for operational network of Indian Railways in terms of inspection
and testing, coordination between vendors / suppliers and operational units,
marginal improvement of systems / sub-systems etc. RDSO also carries out
the work of development of design and specifications of systems and sub-
systems, audit of vendors and their approval and inspection of critical items
related to operation and safety. There is, however, no semblance of any
original research or technology development initiative and the general style of
functioning is around customization of designs of vendors to suit the
requirements of Indian Railways.
7.2.2 Poor empowerment of RDSO in forwarding the sanctioned area of work
within the budgeted amount was also brought to the notice of the
committee. It was informed that RDSO was dependent on zonal railways
in awarding the contracts for trial projects of RDSO which cause delay.
There is hardly any permanent cadre of scientists or officers at RDSO to carry
out the R&D work. The officers at the senior positions such as EDs, Sr EDsand Directors are drawn from the zonal railways on deputation basis. These
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officers go back to the zonal railways after completion of their term of 3 to 5
years or on promotion. RDSO-specific recruitment is done only at the
subordinate level on permanent basis. After converting the status of RDSO as
a zonal railway, even this recruitment has come to a halt. These subordinate
employees are not able to go beyond JAG level.
7.2.3 The committee had detailed presentations and interactions on Technology
Mission on Indian Railways (TMRS). It is observed that though this was a
good effort on the part of RDSO and IIT Kanpur, the role of industry was very
limited. This was perhaps due to the fact that there was no incentive to the
industry. Their efforts in association with IIT Kanpur and RDSO were not
going to be rewarded in any way as the procurement of the product was
through open tender. IPR policy of Indian Railways was not conducive for
promotion of this academia-industry-railway partnership. This led to the
unwillingness of industry partners to participate actively. World over, the
associating industry is having some advantage during the initial business by
way of some royalty or preferential treatment while awarding the contract for
the supply of the product. Thus, despite the best intentions and
reasonable success on the development front up to trial demonstration
stage, the process of technology transfer could not be carried out
successfully.
7.2.4 In order to improve the technology of rolling stock, motive power equipment,
track system and other assets, it is essential to invest continuously in applied
research and technology development. This perspective is singularly absent
in the present scenario. The response to the deficiencies cannot be removedunless the problems are studied in depth and solutions are developed
indigenously. In case of nuclear and space agencies, the backbone of
research and development is as strong as the operational wings of these
agencies. It is because of this that the country is able to achieve a level of
independence and excellence in these areas. It is also important to observe
that issues of safety in these agencies is also taken as a part of research
agenda from the initial phase onwards.
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It must be mentioned that a certain element of ownership and independence
in railway engineering is necessary in India. If there is a tendency of over-
independence on suppliers and vendors and if the equipment procured is in
the form of a black-box then certainly the organization is at the mercy of
vendors time and again. This is certainly not a safe scenario. The
specifications of the equipment as well as the technological know how should
be owned as well as controlled firmly by Indian Railways. Development of
technology as well as indigenous vendors is necessary. As such, the R&D
establishment should establish the standards for Indian Railway system. This
needs to be fostered. When some technology is to be procured, it should
confirm to well known international standards and should be sufficiently
transparent for the Indian Railways.
7.3 Proposed Research Eco-system on IR
7.3.1 In order to promote the overall level of operational as well as engineering
efficiency, the Committee proposes the establishment of a new architecture of
research and development. An apex body called Railway Research &
Development Council (RRDC) is recommended to be established. This
body will be chaired by an eminent technologist / scientist. It will have three
members from the Railway Board and three members, one each from
academia, research establishments, and industry associations (CII, FICCI etc)
respectively. One of the three members from Railway Board shall be Member
(Safety & Research).It may be mentioned that this position has been
proposed by the committee. The other two members may be selected from
Mechanical, Electrical or Engineering members of the Railway Board.
7.3.2 The committee strongly feels that up to 2 % of the revenue of Indian
Railways should be available for supporting the activities of the entire
research eco-system of Indian Railways. This will include the support for
ARRI, RDSO and RRCs.
7.3.3 There shall be two more members of RRDC. The Director General of RDSO
and the Director General of the proposed Advanced Railway Research
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Institute (ARRI) shall also be members of RRDC. The council will have a full-
time secretariat headed by a full-time Member-Secretary of RRDC. The
Member-Secretary will be the official of the RRDC as well as coordinator of
the railway research eco-system. This official will be drawn from within railway
research and engineering stream.
7.3.4 The RRDC will provide the overall guidance as well as resources for the
railway research eco-system in India. The Council will also provide a
perspective plan of research and development in view of the safety
considerations on one hand and the technological solutions on the other
hand. The research eco-system is conceived of the following three
wings.
Research, Design & Standardization Organization (RDSO) Advanced Railway Research Institute (ARRI) A set of Railway Research Centers (RRCs)
In short, the committee strongly feels that an apex body such as RRDC will
guide the RDSO, ARRI and RRCs. Organizational structure is shown in
Figs.42 to 44.
The details on each of these are as follows.
7.3.5 The committee wishes to record that the role of RDSO shall continue to be a
design, testing and certification agency for Indian Railways. ARRI is
conceived to be a high-end research organization for Indian Railways. It may
be recalled that BARC plays a similar role for the atomic energy programme
of the country and VSSC plays a similar role for the space programme of the
country. So, ARRI will be an agency which can focus on areas of research
which will cover engineering, operational, material development, and several
other futuristic and long-term options. There are operational wings in both
Nuclear and Space agencies. However, the efficiency of operational agencies
continues to remain high with the inputs from high-end research wings.
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Besides, the activities of design standardization, testing and inspection
continue to be important supportive functions for production units and
operational units of the Indian Railways.
7.3.6 The committee strongly recommends the establishments of about five or more
Railway Research Centers (RRCs). Each of these research centers will focus
on areas like Rolling Stock, Fixed Engineering Assets, Motive Power,
Signaling & Telecommunication, Operations Management, Economics &
Social Planning etc. These RRCs are to be co-located with the leading
technological or management institutions of the country. These centers will be
in some sense draw upon the intellectual strengths of the academic
community and will be have core full time staff of the center. The Head of the
parent Institution will chair the governing body of the center. The executive
director of the center will be officer-in-charge of the center. The concept of
RRCs has been strongly propounded by the Kakodkar Committee for the IITs.
This committee was established to review and propose a roadmap of growth
of IITs.
7.3.7 RDSO will continue to function as an organization more oriented towards
assisting in functioning of zonal railways. It will have linkages with ARRIs and
RRCs. It will continue to play its present role and strive to achieve higher
standards in research and technology development domain.
The Committee recommends the present system of only having railway
officers on deputation at senior positions should be done away with and
professionals and scientists from reputed technical institutions shouldalso be inducted at higher levels on the permanent cadre. Candidates
having worked on railway specific projects for their doctoral degree
should also be a good choice. Their career progression should be on the
similar lines as followed in other research institutions of Government of
India.
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The Committee further recommends enhancing the powers of DG/RDSO
to improve its functioning:
1. Full autonomy with financial powers to function within the sanctioned
budget.
2. To award consultancy contracts of enhanced value upto Rs. 1 Cr. In
each case against the present delegation of Rs. 30 lakhs in each case.
Powers for awarding MOU/Consultancy Contract should also be
extended to benchmarked organizations in India and abroad like AAR,
TTCI, UIC etc.
3. Full powers to award Consultancy Contract once sanctioned by the
Board for values more than Rs. 1 Cr. each and there should not be any
further need of sending the proposal to the Board.
4. Full powers for placement of developmental order within lump sum
Budget Grant of RDSO irrespective of cost. This will expedite
prototype and field validation for which RDSO is presently depending
on PUs and Railway Board.
In short, RDSO, ARRI and RRCs will constitute the eco-system of research
for Indian Railways. This eco-system will be under the overall guidance of
RRDC. The Chairman of RRDC will report to the Railway Minister,
Government of India.
7.3.8 In summary, following recommendations are made by the Committee.
1. Indian Railways should establish an apex council on research and
development. This Railway Research and Development Council
(RRDC) will be chaired by an eminent technologist / scientist of
the country reporting to the Railway Minister.
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2. Indian Railway should establish a high-end research and
development organization Advanced Railway Research Institute
(ARRI). This organization should be a high-end, research
organization focusing on engineering challenges in railway
specific areas.
3. Indian Railways should establish a string of five or so railway
research centers. These centers should be co-located on the
campuses of Indian technological academic institutions of
national importance. Each center should specialize in specific
areas like signaling, rolling stock, motive power, track and
bridges, operations management, etc.
4. Indian Railways should strengthen RDSO and make it more
efficient organization with respect to the work of design
standards, inspection, testing and technical support to zonal
railways. It should be restructured and empowered to perform the
assigned task.
5. Financial support up to 2 % of yearly revenue of Indian Railways
should be available to support the entire research eco-system of
railways in India.
The Committee has proposed funds to the tune of Rs. 2,500 Crores over 5
years for the above.
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E BEEC E A
E EEC G
C EF
A AE EA C &
E GG. EA
E BE. F
ACADE A
E BE . FE EA C
GA A
E BE .F D A
B D E
E BEDG A
E BEF E
E GG. E EC .
E BEDG D
E BEF E
E GG. E EC .
A A E EA C & DE E EC C ( DC)
C A AA /
E BEE BE B, &
Fig.42
A A E EA C & DE E EC C ( DC)
E EA C , DE G&
A DA D AGA A
( D )
AD A CEDA A
E EA CE
(A )
A AE EA CCE E
( C)G
C
A AE EA CCE E
( C)G A G
&E EC
A AE EA CCE E
( C)E
E
A AE EA C
CE E ( C)E A
A AGE E
A AE EA CCE E
( C)AC ,
B DGE &F ED
A E
Fig.43
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G E G B D
E BEEC E AE
D C
E BEED
C
E BE
E
E BE
E
E BE.
A A E EA C CE E
2 E BEAF
(2)
C A A
C C A AA
DC
E BE
Fig.44
******
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Chapter VIII
Safety Architecture on IR
8.1 Introduction8.1.1 An effective Safety framework requires a holistic approach that ensures
adequate safety culture all across the organization beginning with the topmost
layer. The system should have the ability to spot and more importantly correct
potential unsafe situations. There should be a keen watch on precursor
events and corrections brought in at the root cause level. Safety should
evolve as a discipline that can ensure adequate safety margins and avoid cliff
edge situations. Most importantly, there is a need for an independent and
effective oversight on safety that should be free from day to day operational
and business pressures
8.1.2 A close look at Indian Railways systemic approach to safety reveals that
within the railways system everybody is supposed to look after safety, but in
reality it gets translated to safety of railway system as a whole being no
bodys baby. Theoretically speaking, safety is supposed to be the common
factor embedded in all the activities of railway production, maintenance and
operations and is supposed to be a running theme in all modernisation and
technological up-gradation. Apart from a safety set-up at Railway Board, both
at Zonal and Divisional level railways are armed with safety organisation, but
in reality the safety organisation at the Zonal and Divisional Railways is at
best a co-coordinating service department mainly involved with safety audit
functions.
8.1.3 It is also not clear that officers and staff with the right, orientation and attitude
are placed or deputed to discharge the safety related functions. Thus,
realistically speaking, the respective operating departments are responsible
for ensuring safety as well asits regulation in their area of work.
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8.1.4 Thus while safety in Indian railways should have been the end product
of a cohesive fusion of concerted working of track, rolling stock,
signaling, electrical equipments departments along with operational
and maintenance excellence, adherence to standards and other
protocols, discipline, rules and procedures and co-ordinated functioning
of various wings of the staff and officials, in real sense it turns out to be
disjointed effort which is not in the best interest of safety of railway
users.
8.2 Commissioner of Railway Safety
8.2.1 The institution of Commissioner Railway Safety is instituted to be independent
of Indian Railways as it works under the overarching umbrella of Ministry of
Civil Aviation. The responsibilities, duties, functions and powers of
Commissioner of Railway Safety are laid down under Sections 5-10 and
Sections 114-118 of the Railways Act, 1989. A careful perusal of these
sections of Railways Act indicates that, the role of Commissioner of Railway
Safety is very narrow and is limited to specifically three areas- inspection and
certification of new works if the new lines are to be opened for public carriage
of passengers, certification of new rolling stock and enquiry into railway
accidents.
8.2.2 In a railway line already opened and functional, the role of Commissioner of
Railway Safety if any is very marginal. Even the power of CRS to make
periodical inspections of any railway or of any rolling stock used therein has to
be directed by the central government. Therefore its autonomy from Indian
Railway administration is rather elusive. Railway Board can still over-ride and
do over-ride the Commissioner of Railway Safety, and such a prevalent
scenario makes the functioning of Commissioner Railway Safety for all
practical purpose, as one that is subordinated to the Railway Board. An
Architecture of Safety organization is detailed later in this chapter to overcome
these weaknesses.
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8.3 Railway Board Remains Three in One- Policy Framer,
Operator and Regulator
8.3.1 Ever since Railway Board was first constituted in 1905, its size, functions and
responsibilities have gone on widening. Today Railway Board presents itselfas all encompassing monolithic structure where it has become all in one-
policy framer, operator of train services and regulator. Numerous past
committees on the working of Indian Railways have considered this as an
untenable proposition in the long run. Such a situation where Railway Board
has all-in-one authority, often results in a operational compulsions supersede
safety. Further, the silo based approach of departmental working results in
working at cross purposes. It is ironical that Railway Board has both theexecutive responsibility as well as the regulatory authority to enforce and
control safety in the Indian Railway system. There is critical need for an
agency separate from Railway Board, whose overarching responsibility is all
aspects of safety, prevention of accidents, enquiring into the breaches and
enforcing remedial measures if safety has to become the prime concern of
railway operations.
8.3.2 The above scenario presents a strong case for immediate steps to bolster
safety orientation of Indian Railways along with inculcating a culture of zero
tolerance of accidents. If the avowed goal has to be achieved there is urgent
need for setting up of a statutory Railway Safety Authority which acts as
an independent Authority under the Government and is responsible for
all aspects pertaining to safety regulation and enforcement while the
prime responsibility for safety continues to be that of the Railway Board.
8.4 Safety of Railways is Becoming Over-Arching Concern
Globally
8.4.1 In recent years, safety of railways is becoming over arching concern in major
countries like U.S.A., England, Australia and those governed by the European
Commission. In the working of railways system in these countries, the trend is
to statutorily ensure that safety is accorded highest priority. Some of the more
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important legislations/ guidelines in this arena, which have been
enacted/issued during last one decade, are enumerated hereunder:
United States of America, Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 Queensland Australia, Transport (Rail) Safety Act of 2010 and
Transport Rail Safety Regulation (2010) United Kingdom (UK), Railways and Transport Safety Act, 2003 European Commission Rail Safety Directive No 2004/49/EC for
member countries dated 29 th April, 2004 Ireland Rail Safety Act, 2005 in pursuance of European Commission
Rail Safety Directives Australia, Transport Safety Investigation Act (2003) to provide for
investigation of transport accidents and other matters affecting
transport safety and related purposes.
8.4.2 The Committee studied the basic feature of the Railway Safety Acts of the
different countries which are worth emulating. Central to the recent efforts in
these countries has been system based approach of having safety plans
geared towards zero tolerance of incidence and proactive and positive safety
measures. Setting up of dedicated safety watchdog and regulator as an entity
separate from rail operator and those whose responsibility is to manage rail
infrastructure has been the common running theme in recent developments. It
is noted that the approach adopted by the above Railways was of a very
proactive accident reduction strategy, duly including a risk mitigation
strategy, technology plan and fatigue management plan is something
which is critically needed in the context for Indian railways plan for a
positive safety orientation.
8.4.3 An important component of US Act is mandating the Government to
establish a grant program for the deployment of train control
technologies, train control component technologies, processor-based
technologies, electronically controlled pneumatic brakes, rail integrity
inspection systems, rail integrity warning systems, switch position
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indicators and monitors, remote control power switch technologies,
track integrity circuit technologies, and other new or novel railroad
safety technology.
8.4.4 It is important to note here once again that even in Indian context, the Indian
Railways with its present financial status, is ill equipped to undertake such
measures for safety unless a clear dedicated line of funding including with the
support of government exchequer is created upfront. Such a programme has
to be sustained over a period of time, at least for next ten years, to make a
real difference to the Indian Railway system.
8.4.5 The Indian situation is different from American situation in one important
aspect while the American Railroad is a summation of several class I, Class
II and other railroads, the Indian Railways is the single agency so far in the
country and this situation is likely to prevail in near future. But the principle of
government establishing the safety Infrastructure Improvement Grant for
Indian Railways is as sound as in the case of American Railroad. In fact,
given the present financial health of Indian Railways, without such a
grant, the overall safety programme of Indian Railways will be a non-
starter. This aspect is further covered in last chapter of the report.
8.5 Urgent Need for setting up Railway Safety Authority for
Railways in India
The elaborate discussion of reasons for present lack of safety orientation in
foregoing paragraphs presents a strong case for the urgent need for setting
up of Railway Safety Authority under the Government. It is worth mentioning
that Railway Safety Authority to be set up in the country has to be such that it
meets the needs of the present structure of Railways in the country as well as
remains relevant for emerging structure for the future. The modalities of
setting up of the Authority, its Functions, and its Structure, its roles, duties and
responsibilities are the subject matter of this section:
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8.5.1 Railway Safety Authority should be set up as a Statutory
Institution
It has been seen that various countries in recent times have taken proactive
steps for giving pre-eminent importance to railway safety and have moved in
the direction of zero tolerance of accidents. In this connection the
developments of setting up dedicated statutory and independent institutions
for rail safety in USA, UK, Ireland, Australia, and South Korea have become
the precursor of more such actions by other countries.
It is about time that India moves to the paradigm of proactive prevention,
positive safety measures, highest priority to safety and zero tolerance for
accidents. Such a paradigm change is also consistent with the Vision 2020 of
Indian Railways. As such the Safety Committee recommends setting up
of a Railway Safety Authority as a statutory body independent of Indian
Railway Board under the Government. Such an institution should be set up
by making robust changes through amendments in the Railways Act, 1989.
8.5.2 Railway Safety Authority should be independent of Indian
Railways
It has to be clearly understood that for the Railway Safety Authority to be an
effective watchdog and regulator, it has to be set up not only at arms length
from Indian Railways but it should be an independent authority having
comprehensive powers to direct railways on all matters pertaining to safety
and ideally such an authority should be accountable to Railway Minister andthrough him to the parliament.
The Railway Safety Authority to be set up should have the powers to issue
directives to Railways and its directives have to be necessarily be
implemented by the Railways within a fixed time frame. In case railways are
not implementing the directives of the Authority, the Act should provide the
Authority with statutory powers to penalize the Railways. If there is a seriousdifference of view between Railway Board and Railway Safety Authority which
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does not get resolved at their level the issue will go to the Central
Government (Railway Minister) for arbitration and decision.
As discussed above It should be possible to set up Railway Safety Authority
by making robust amendments to Railways Act, 1989. Alternatively, a cue
can be taken from the latest Rail Safety Improvement Acts in USA (2008),
Australia (2010) and UK (2003) and such separate Acts should form the basis
of setting up, functioning and regulation by the Rail Safety Authority.
Elaborate Rail Safety Regulations will need to be issued like Safety
Regulations issued by European Union. Railway Safety Authority should have
powers for enforcement of its safety directives and in case of infringement in
implementation of the directives it should have punitive powers.
8.5.3 The Institution of Commissioner of Railway Safety should be
merged with the Authority
The responsibility of the Railway Safety Authority should be all encompassing
and the present institution of Commissioner of Rail Safety should also be
made a part of the Authority. This will be consistent with the changes made in
the British Act. Further, the same will be needed for seamless working of the
Authority having powers and authority in the entire range of safety related
issues from directing railways to make positive short term and perspective
safety plan to enforcement of the plan, to arrive at those critical risks to safety
and issuing directives to reduce risks, to promote research in the areas of rail
safety as well as to avoid incidents and accidents, to inspect and carry
enquiry in case of the accidents and to suggest immediate and long termremedial measures for ensuring safety, avoiding accidents and ensuring non
repetition of the incidents. The Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety at
present works under Ministry of Civil Aviation. There is hardly any benefit that
has accrued from this arrangement. The institution should therefore be
delinked from Ministry of Civil Aviation and brought in as a part of Railway
Safety Authority. Role of Commissioner of Railway safety should be
withdrawn from the routine clearance of proposals from the railwayssuch as changes in plans, working rules, etc. which consume lots of his
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time. These should be dealt and finalized by the concerned Principal
Head of the department who should full responsibility of the changes.
Under this safety dispensation, the institution of Commissioner of
Railway Safety has to be strengthened and empowered. There should be
CRS for each zonal railway and each CRS will have a regulatory
inspection team consisting of HODs of the concerned technical
departments. The CRS will continue to discharge his functions as per the
Railways Act and will devote more time for regulatory inspections and safety
superintendence.
8.5.4 Key Objectives and Functions of Railway Safety Authority
Setting up of Railway Safety Authority should mark a complete shift and
paradigm change from the present safety orientation of Indian Railways. It
should result in giving safety the highest priority in railways. Instead of merely
looking at the incidents, accidents, failures and safety infringements its
objects among other things should include
a. substantial improvement in safe railways operations and managing all
aspects of railways working
b. to identify and minimize risks with the railways operations
c. to ensure special provisioning for the control and mitigation of specific
risks to safety arising out of railways operations. Minimization or
elimination of risks to safety to the best level practicable should be the
hall mark of working of Railway Safety Authority
d. to inculcate the discipline of zero tolerance of all types of incidents ofsafety significance including substantial reduction of failures which can
be causative factor of such incidents and
e. to enhance confidence of public by promoting greater safety of
passengers or freight by rail.
Working of the Office of Rail Regulator in United Kingdom and provisions of
the Rail Safety (Improvement) Act, 2008 of United States of America provideexcellent template for the vision, strategy, functions, responsibilities and
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enforcement powers of the proposed Railway Safety Authority in the Indian
context. Such an authority among other things should have powers to ask the
Indian Railways and other railway operators in India to develop a short term (1
year), medium term (3-5 years) and perspective (10 years) Safety
Management Plan with the clear intent of substantial improvement in safety
and drastically reducing the number of accidents, incidents, injuries and
fatalities involving railroad working including but not limited to collisions,
derailments and human factors, substantially improving the consistency and
effectiveness of enforcement and compliance programs pertaining to safety,
having a programmed completion target of safety related/ safety
enhancement works including enhancement of line capacity, renewal of
assets, infusion of technology and fostering a culture of improving research
efforts to promote and substantially improve the safety and performance of
railways. The Authority should provide general requirement and areas to be
included in the safety management plan. A key function of the Authority shall
be monitoring of the safety management plan and imposing penalty for non-
adherence to the plan. As it will not be possible to implement all safety related
measures with railways finances, General or Special Safety Grants to be
given out of general exchequer shall be monitored by the Railway Safety
Authority both for its utilization and results. A periodical review of safety
management plan and consultation shall also be part of the functions of the
Authority. The Authority shall cause the railway administrations to publish their
annual safety performance reports and should be responsible for ensuring
that the railway administration starts remedial measures on the deficiencies or
irregularities so brought out by the Authority. The Railway Safety Authority
shall have overriding powers of inspecting and enquiring in the case of railwayaccidents and such powers shall include the powers to impose penalty on the
rail administration. The powers of Authority to give directions in the matters of
rail safety shall be comprehensive and such a direction shall state the time
frame within which the safety matter direction must be complied with and in
case the same is not done by the railway administration the punitive powers of
the Authority shall be invoked
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8.5.5 The Organization of the Railway Safety Authority
1. The Rail Safety Authority should have commensurate organization
having representation at the highest level of all the key functions of
railway functioning. It shall also have special officers having expertise
in the matters of rail and transportation safety, persons having
distinguished track record in safety related research as well as it shall
have the incident/accident investigation department. In contrast with
the silo based working of Indian Railways, the Rail Safety Authority
should be organized on the basis of functions and functionality.
2. The Authority shall have a separate budget fully funded by the
Ministry of Railways.
3. RSA shall comprise of a part time Chairman; three Members
from outside IR (Part time ) who shall be eminent technologists
and having good knowledge of IR; two members from Railway
Board, --Member (Safety and Research), a new post to be created
in Railway Board and Member (Traffic); and Chief Commissioner
of Railway Safety (CCRS) as its Member Secretary. The Members
and officials of Rail Safety Authority shall have statutory powers
through amendment of Railways Act, 1989.
4. RSA shall have full-fledged secretariat consisting of experts and
professionals from railways and outside with necessary
wherewithal.
5. RSA shall function through 2 major routes to achieve broad functions of
Safety Regulation, accident investigation and safety management as
explained under:
A. Chief Commissioner Railway Safety (CCRS) as Member Secretary of
the RSA shall, in addition to its current functions, be in-charge ofcollating all the safety related occurrences from all the CRSs working at
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corresponding zones. Zonal Safety Committees (ZSC) shall be formed
and chaired by CRS with Principal Officers of the safety related
departments of the zone as members. ZSC shall review unusual
incident reports, reports of designated regulatory inspection teams,
safety issues bugging the railway, etc. Regulatory Inspection Terms
(RIT) shall be formed under the zonal CRSs consisting of SAG railway
officers of safety related departments having experience in the field of
safety. This team may have permanent members under CRS or drawn
from the existing railway officers. Agencies and experts from outside
may also be requisitioned based on needs. RIT will carry out regulator
safety audits at Zonal (Field) level shall submit its report to CRS and
AGM/Safety. Action taken on such regulatory inspection report will be
submitted by AGM/Safety to the CRS who will forward the same to
CCRS, Member (Safety and Research), Railway Board and GM. RIT
shall also assist CRS in conducting statutory inquiry into accidents.
This shall create a chain of Regulatory functions. RIT shall have the
defined charter of regulatory inspection work to carryout periodic as
well as on demand inspections. The SAG officers of RIT should be on
5 years deputation and should be from the existing cadre strength of
the railways.
B. Newly created post of Member (Safety and Research) in Railway
Board will formulate and execute the Safety functions of IR. M (SR)
shall also suggest the research works to be undertaken by Railway
Research & Development Council on matters related to Safety. M
(SR) shall arrange the execution of Safety functions through AdditionalGeneral Manager (Safety) at zonal level and Sr. Divisional Safety
Officers at Divisional level. The adequate staff for their functions shall
be drawn from respective zones and divisions. AGMs and Sr. DSOs
shall report to Member (SR) in the chain of Safety discipline. This
implies creation of a Safety cadre to foster the safety culture. However,
functionally AGM (Safety) which will be the upgraded post of CSO shall
report to the concerned GM.
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6. With the limited time available with the Committee the finer details
could not be drawn which should be done in Railway Ministry
based on the given framework.
7. An organizational chart of Railway afety Authority is shown in
fig.!".
MINISTER OF RAILWAYS
RAILWAY SAFETY AUTHORITY(RSA)
3 MEMBERSFROM OUTSIDE
CHIEF COMMISSIONER OFRAILWAY SAFETY (CCRS)
MEMBER SECRETARY
GENERAL MANAGER
PRINCIPAL OFFICERSOF SAFETY RELATED
DEPARTMENTS
Addl. GM/
SAFETY
COMMISSIONEROF RAILWAYSAFETY (CRS)
MEMBER(TRAFFIC)
RAILWAY BOARD
MEMBER (SAFETY& RESEARCH)
RAILWAY BOARD
CHAIRMAN(RSA)
REGULATORYINSPECTION TEAMS
ZONAL SAFETYCOMMITTEE
*
* PROPOSAL OF HLSRC
*
*
DIVISIONAL SAFETYSETUP
Fig.45
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8. Functional linkage between Railway Board, Railway Safety
Authority and Railway Research and Develop ent !ouncil is
depicted in the chart at fig "#.
MINISTER OF RAILWAYS
RAILWAY BOARD RAILWAY SAFETY AUTHORITY(RSA) RAILWAY RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL(RRDC)
3 MEMBERSFROM OUTSIDE
CHIEF COMMISSIONER OFRAILWAY SAFETY (CCRS)MEMBER SECRETARY
GENERAL MANAGER
PRINCIPAL OFFICERSOF SAFETY RELATED
DEPARTMENTS
Addl. GM/
SAFETY
COMMISSIONEROF RAILWAYSAFETY (CRS)
CHAIRMAN(RRDC)
2 TECHNICALMEMBERS
RAILWAY BOARD
TRAC & BRIDGESRESEARCHCENTRE
MOTIVE POWERRESEARCHCENTRE
OPERATIONALRESEARCH & HRD
CENTRE
ROLLING STOC &RAIL RESEARCH
CENTRE
SIGNAL &TELECOM
RESEARCH CENTRE
MEMBER(TRAFFIC)
RAILWAY BOARD
MEMBER (SAFETY& RESEARCH)
RAILWAY BOARD
CHAIRMAN (RSA)
MEMBER
SECRETARY
3 OUTSIDEMEMBERS
REGULATORYINSPECTION
TEAMS
!ONAL SAFETYCOMMITTEE
* *
* PROPOSAL OF HLSRC
*
ADVANCERAILWAY
RESEARCHINSTITUTE
RDSO
*
DIVISIONAL SAFETY SETUP
Fig.46
******
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Chapter IX
Conclusion
9.1 The Committee had a very satisfying time in interacting with various
stakeholders and visiting work places on Indian Railways. Our
impression that Indian Railway is committed to the nation got
strengthened during our working with Indian Railways for the past about
5 months. The commitment and passion with which railway men of all
stature and class work is truly commendable and can take IndianRailways to great heights.
9.2 The Committee also brings it on record that the contents of this report
are largely based on the shortcomings observed on Indian Railway
system and good points, though many, have not been detailed or
discussed for the sake of brevity.
9.3 The Committee has given several recommendations in the previous chapters
of this report. Some of the recommendations have financial implications while
many of the recommendations do not require funds for their implementation.
The requirement of funds to implement such funds specific recommendations
indicating funds required against individual items is shown in table 7.
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Proposed Investment on Safety over 5 yearsas per HIGH LEVEL SAFETY REVIEW COMMITTEE
Figures in Crores of Rs.
S.No.
Items TotalEstimated Cost
1 Advanced Signaling system to prevent collision with increasedline capacity.
20000
2 Elimination of all level crossings (manned and unmanned) byGrade separation (RUB/Limited High Subway/ROB.)
50000
3 Switching over to production of all new coaches to LHB design.Following is the break up:
10000
(a) Cost differential of LHB and ICF coaches (@ Rs. 1 Cr.) 7500(b) Additional Capacity in production units. 1500
(c) Maintenance infrastructure in workshops and coachingdepots.
1000
4 No discharge toilets in coaches (bio toilets / vacuum toilets). 3000
5 Weigh bridges. 10
6 Improvement in infrastructure in workshops and open linedepots.
5000
7 Track friendly bogies for wagons. 2000
8 Identification tag on all types of rolling stock, communicationbackbone on the entire system, IT enabled applications such asWheel Impact Load Detectors (WILD), hot box detectors, On-
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